Like pretty much every kid of my generation I grew up watching The Brady Bunch. I can't say that it was ever my absolute favourite TV show. I always preferred "Gilligan's Island" and "Hogan's Heroes" - but this was certainly part of my after school fare (it was the early 70's and they were all in syndication by then.) I've heard a lot of the stories about the show - Barry Williams (Greg) and Maureen McCormick (Marcia) hooking up, Robert Reed (dad Mike) being gay and being very uncomfortable showing any affection for Florence Henderson (mom Carol) and also rebelling against what he saw as a silly sitcom that would ruin his career as a dramatic actor, Barry's actual "date" with Florence - but I've never actually read Williams' book. And as a big fan of The Big Bang Theory, I decided I wanted to watch this when I found out that Kaley Cuoco actually played Maureen McCormick in this and was delighted to find out that it was available on You Tube. And it turned out to be a fun and nostalgic made for TV movie.
The cast I thought was superb. With the exception perhaps of Suanne Spoke (who played Ann B. Davis, who played Alice - these kinds of movies can get confusing) all of the cast members looked their parts and played them pretty well. It's interesting watching these child actors work with their parts, struggle with keeping real life separate from their TV lives, and seeing apparently all the kids struggle a bit with hormones - challenging as the attractions were to their TV brothers and sisters, making for some difficulty with some scenes (humourously portrayed as we watch Barry and Maureen try to shoot a scene together without getting carried away!) It is a lot of fun, and it did give a good "behind the scenes" feel. The film (according to its closing credits) was in memory of Robert Reed (who had died in 1992) but it didn't pull any punches in its portrayal of him. He was, as I've heard, fiercely devoted to and protective of his "TV kids" but he also hated the show he co-starred with them in, believing it would destroy his career as a serious actor, and he was a challenge to deal with on the set, demanding continual rewrites and refusing to play certain scenes. Reed's attitude (along with the kids coming to be represented by a sleazeball agent who was more interested in making money off their hoped for singing career than the TV show) ended up being the death of the series after five seasons on the air.
The biggest weakness of the movie (and this is perhaps because it's based on Barry Williams book) is that it probably concentrated a little bit too much on the Williams-McCormick relationship. I can understand the challenge involved. Maureen McCormick was a very pretty girl. I had a crush on her too! If I were Barry Williams I'd have had some of the same problems he had (including one hilarious scene when he had invited Maureen to his parents home for dinner and his parents "interrupted" them, calling them down for dessert and poor Barry had to walk downstairs and to the couch bent over - for obvious and completely understandable reasons.
This is a fun, nostalgic movie. It wouldn't be of interest to anyone other than fans of The Brady Bunch, but if you are a fan of the show and you've never seen this, it will be enjoyable to watch. (8/10)
The cast I thought was superb. With the exception perhaps of Suanne Spoke (who played Ann B. Davis, who played Alice - these kinds of movies can get confusing) all of the cast members looked their parts and played them pretty well. It's interesting watching these child actors work with their parts, struggle with keeping real life separate from their TV lives, and seeing apparently all the kids struggle a bit with hormones - challenging as the attractions were to their TV brothers and sisters, making for some difficulty with some scenes (humourously portrayed as we watch Barry and Maureen try to shoot a scene together without getting carried away!) It is a lot of fun, and it did give a good "behind the scenes" feel. The film (according to its closing credits) was in memory of Robert Reed (who had died in 1992) but it didn't pull any punches in its portrayal of him. He was, as I've heard, fiercely devoted to and protective of his "TV kids" but he also hated the show he co-starred with them in, believing it would destroy his career as a serious actor, and he was a challenge to deal with on the set, demanding continual rewrites and refusing to play certain scenes. Reed's attitude (along with the kids coming to be represented by a sleazeball agent who was more interested in making money off their hoped for singing career than the TV show) ended up being the death of the series after five seasons on the air.
The biggest weakness of the movie (and this is perhaps because it's based on Barry Williams book) is that it probably concentrated a little bit too much on the Williams-McCormick relationship. I can understand the challenge involved. Maureen McCormick was a very pretty girl. I had a crush on her too! If I were Barry Williams I'd have had some of the same problems he had (including one hilarious scene when he had invited Maureen to his parents home for dinner and his parents "interrupted" them, calling them down for dessert and poor Barry had to walk downstairs and to the couch bent over - for obvious and completely understandable reasons.
This is a fun, nostalgic movie. It wouldn't be of interest to anyone other than fans of The Brady Bunch, but if you are a fan of the show and you've never seen this, it will be enjoyable to watch. (8/10)